After a total of about five hours of discussion over two meetings, the Crystal City Council voted 7-1 Monday to renew a permit for Midwest LLC and the Ruth Yeida Trust to allow two more years of sand mining at the quarry at 2540 N. Truman Blvd.
However, the council added some conditions to the mine’s conditional-use permit designed to better monitor blasting at the site.
Some local residents have complained about the blasting associated with the mining operation, and about 25 people attended Monday’s meeting, a far larger turnout than at most Crystal City Council meetings.
But, when all was said and done Monday, some of the mining operation’s harshest critics said they believe the council improved the situation by adding the conditions when it renewed the conditional-use permit.
“My goal was never to shut down a mine,” said one of the critics, Ed White, who lives in the River Bend Estates subdivision above the quarry. “Some residents up here felt they were being neglected.”
However, White said he felt the council took positive steps to protect homeowners by adding the conditions to the permit.
The new conditions include adding a fourth seismometer to monitor the blasting; putting a seismometer on the bluff at the times of blasting; notifying City Hall the day before any blasting; and increasing the company’s surety bond from $200,000 to $300,000.
White and others who live near the mining operation said their biggest concern stemmed from a “shoot” in June 2018 he described as a “mega-blast.”
Bloomsdale Excavating, a subcontractor that carries out the blasting, made adjustments after that, but neighbors want assurances that such a heavy blast won’t happen again, White said.
Matt Clark of Midwest Proppant said his company tries to avoid disturbing those who live near its operations.
Midwest Proppant’s operations at the site began in 2017, when the council approved a conditional-use permit for Selma Land Holding LLC to conduct surface mining at the quarry.
Selma Land Holding was listed as the owner of the property, and that company contracted with Midwest Proppant to perform the mining work. The permit was good for two years.
In 2019, Midwest Proppant and Ruth Yeida Trust (the successor to Selma Land Holding) requested another conditional-use permit.
The council held a public hearing to discuss the mining permit on Sept. 23 and followed up with another one on Monday.
“We’re satisfied,” Clark said after the meeting. “We want to emphasize we’re doing everything we can to be good neighbors.”
Some quarry neighbors remained worried, though, including Robert Feikert, who lives on Truman Boulevard near the sand mine.
Feikert said he has repeatedly complained about the blasting, which he believes has damaged his home.
He said he is satisfied with the conditions on the permit. However, he said conditions haven’t always been enforced in the past, so he wants to make sure the new ones are.
Ward 1 Council member Jack Ginnever, who cast the lone no vote, said while the added conditions are welcome, he believes the city should go further to protect its residents.
“(The added conditions) improved the situation,” Ginnever said. “I think it was a step in the right direction. I just don’t think it goes far enough.”
He said that while he realizes city ordinances allow mining operations in the part of the city where the quarry is located, he would like to see city officials gradually eliminate mining operations in town.
“I feel that the city of Crystal City needs to address the issue of allowing blasting in a quarry that is located in a residential zoning district,” Ginnever said. “It doesn’t have to be taken out of the ordinance right away. It could be phased out over time.”
Ward 2 Council member Tony Becker, the council liaison to the city Planning and Zoning Board, previously said the board approved a Sept. 19 motion to recommend that the council grant the conditional-use permit request. At Monday’s hearing, Becker once again told the crowd that the sand-mining operation is an allowed use of the land under city regulations.